


To Fill the Silence

by Bones (thepiesandthebees)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: ASL, Deaf Castiel, Engineer Dean, Ficlet, Fluff, M/M, Professor Castiel, short fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-13
Updated: 2015-04-13
Packaged: 2018-03-22 16:48:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3736321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepiesandthebees/pseuds/Bones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean is attending an ASL class for his deaf brother, Sam, and the professor happens to be Dr. Castiel Shurley, who’s very attractive and mostly deaf.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Fill the Silence

Fluorescent light glared overhead and bounced off the cream colored walls. To Dean’s tired eyes, the light was annoying, but when he reminded himself why he was taking this night class, it didn’t seem so bad. By the end of this class, he knew it would all be worth it.

Other students of varying ages were sitting in no particular pattern around the room. Dean took a desk at the very front, figuring it would be easier on his eyes to be up close. Besides, he was well past the age where sitting at the front made him self-conscious. The whiteboard had been cleaned thoroughly. Even the smallest speck of marker had been erased.

More students filtered in over the next ten minutes. Dean fiddled around on his phone until a tall man in a trenchcoat hurried in with a laptop bag. “Sorry, I’m late,” he said and set his bag down at a desk in the front corner of the room.

Dean stared at the man a moment. He was, by far, the most attractive professor Dean had ever seen. His eyes were a rich blue, and the mussed brown hair atop his head made Dean wonder if the guy had just rolled out of bed or been driven into a bed. The latter was dangerous to think about when the young professor pulled his trenchcoat off to reveal hard muscle straining against the thin fabric of his blue button down.

Dean swallowed and lowered his phone as the professor faced the class. “I’m Dr. Castiel Shurley,” he said with a smile, “but you guys can just call me Castiel.” He pulled out a folder of papers from his bag and passed them out by giving stacks to the people in the front row. Dean felt like a dork when he averted his gaze while Castiel handed him the papers. He passed the stack back after taking one.

“This is the syllabus for this class,” Castiel continued. “You have two main exams in this class, a midterm and the final. I give homework, but that’s for your benefit. I won’t grade you on it or check to see if you did it. The exams are what you need to worry about.” He glanced at Dean with a smile. “And I’m sure a couple of you aren’t going to worry about it at all because you’re not here to fulfill a GE requirement. I hope you enjoy the class, and your hearing impaired friends or family appreciate your efforts here.”

Dean looked at the syllabus. It had all the course objectives, office hours, etc. “I’m supposed to go over the syllabus with you,” Castiel said, “but you all can read. Instead, I’ll tell you a little about myself, and then we’ll do a little ‘getting to know each other’ exercise.” He turned his head to the side and pointed to his left ear where a small plastic device rested. “I have partial hearing in this ear, and I’m completely deaf in the other. I lost my hearing while I was a Marine. It was my fourth tour in Afghanistan, and a bomb went off near my garrison. I got a severe concussion and damaged my ears irreparably. So you all are going to have to speak a little louder than normal when talking to me or make sure I can see your lips when you’re speaking, and try not to talk to me from my right.”

Dean stole a glance back at the rest of the class who stared at Castiel in disbelief and sympathy. The professor seemed to be unfazed by their reactions and said, “Now, we’re going to go around the class and get to know each other. Just say your name and why you’re taking this class.” He turned to a red-haired woman sitting at the end of the front row. She looked in her early twenties. “Why don’t you start?”

She straightened. “I’m Abby. I’m here to fulfill a GE requirement.”

Castiel smiled at that. “Nice to meet you, Abby.” He went through the front row with much the same answers until he came to Dean.

“I’m Dean. I’m here because my brother became deaf about six months ago, and I’ve only now found the time to learn sign language.”

Castiel had a sympathetic look. “I’m sure your brother appreciates you being here.”

Dean smiled. “Well, the real reason I’m here is because I’m convinced he swears at me in sign language all the time, and I want to call him out on it.”

Castiel chuckled. “Also a great reason.” He continued to have the students introduce themselves. There were a handful who had friends or family who were deaf, but the majority were college students who needed to fulfill their language requirement. Then Castiel got the class started.

Dean understood the basics, like the alphabet and common gestures, from some short lessons by his brother, so he bided his time by ogling Castiel as he went through various signs and the structure of ASL. The professor had lovely hands—even if they were scarred and calloused. He had a slight hitch in his step that Dean assumed was from an injury that didn’t quite heal correctly, yet he seemed unusually graceful as he walked across the front of the room.

After class, Dean took his time packing up and tried not to think about how early he had to get up in the morning. “How did your brother lose his hearing?” Castiel asked.

Dean looked up from his bag, unsure if the question was directed at him, but Castiel staring at him seemed a good indication. “Birth defect,” Dean said. “It was all right when he was younger, but the last couple of years, it just got worse and worse. And then he just couldn’t hear at all.”

Castiel had an understanding look. “That must have been hard on him.”

Dean shrugged and stuffed his binder in his bag. “He expected it. I mean, it was a gradual thing, so he had plenty of time to adjust. I imagine it would have been harder if he’d just woken up deaf.”

Something like a nostalgic sadness shone in Castiel’s eyes. “Yeah, you might be right.”

Dean stood. “So...you were a Marine?”

Castiel nodded. “Enlisted right out of high school. My sister, brothers, and parents were all Marines, so it seemed like a logical decision.”

Dean’s brows rose. “Your whole family?”

“Yep. My sister, Anna, actually joined infantry for a time, which isn’t possible for women, but when the war got bad, we needed more hands. She somehow ended up in infantry and leading a small team with the most efficiency I’d ever seen in my career. All the men in our garrison were scared shitless of her, which is saying something—considering how much misogyny is in the military. “

“Damn.”

Castiel smiled fondly. “That’s what my brothers said, too.” He slung his bag over his shoulder, and Dean followed suit.

“How many brothers you got?”

“Too many.” Castiel started out of the class. Dean kept pace beside him, making sure to stay on his left. “I have three older brothers,” Castiel continued. “Michael and Lucifer are the eldest. They’re twins. And then there’s Gabriel. Anna’s older than me, too. I’m the youngest of five.”

“Geez. How did you survived the sibling feuds?”

Castiel smiled in amusement. “Anna usually stuck up for me. She made sure everyone was in line, and once you get past Gabe’s crazy sense of humor, he’s a pretty cool guy. Mike and Luc fought more with each other then anyone else.” He regarded Dean curiously. “What about you? Do you have any other siblings than your brother?”

“No, it’s just me and Sam.” Dean and Castiel walked out of the classroom and headed down the hall of the Language Arts building. “Did you park by the Admissions office?”

Castiel nodded. “You?”

“Yeah.”

“Good, then we can continue chatting.” Castiel flashed a charming smile that gave Dean all sorts of bad ideas.

“So how’d you go from Marine to professor?” Dean asked, avoiding looking directly into those blue eyes.

Castiel ran a hand through his hair, mussing it further. “When I couldn’t serve anymore, I went back to school, got a Ph. D in Linguistics, and landed a job as a full-time professor here at this community college. I like teaching well enough, and it pays the bills.”

Dean cocked a brow. “Sounds like you’d rather be doing something else.”

“Well, honestly, I’ve always wanted to be a writer, but I’ve never found the time or inspiration to actually write.” Castiel had a sad smile as he and Dean walked out of the hall and into the open air. “I used to write all the time in high school, but then I went into the military. Haven’t had much time for anything since.”

Dean offered a sympathetic look. “I understand. I barely have enough time for myself nowadays. It took me forever to carve out enough time to take this class.”

Castiel seemed surprised, brow arching slightly. “And what to do you for a living.”

“I work for NASA. I’m a rocket scientist.”

“You’re...a rocket scientist?”

At seeing Castiel’s disbelief, Dean chuckled. “It’s not as impressive as it sounds. My official title anyway is ‘aerospace engineer,’ but people usually give me blank looks when I say that. Mostly, I just do a lot of math and argue with my team about project designs.”

Castiel shook his head with a smile. “Well, you’re now the most interesting student I’ve ever had.”

“About time I was interesting. Only took me thirty-four years.”

“You’re thirty-four?” Castiel sounded surprised.

“You don’t believe me?”

“No, it’s just...you seem younger. I had you pinned for late twenties.”

Dean grinned and winked. “Good to know my looks have held up.”

In the dim light of the evening, it was hard to determine if Castiel blushed or if his cheeks were simply windburned. Dean decided to believe it was blushing.

“How old are you, if you don’t mind my asking?” Dean prompted.

“Thirty-five.” Castiel rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “You have kids waiting for you at home?”

Dean shook his head. “No, I never settled down enough to have kids. Still single and alone.”

Castiel seemed to perk up at the admission. “Same.”

Dean didn’t want to get his hopes up, so when they reached the admissions office, he only said, “See you Wednesday.”

Castiel offered the same charming smile he’d had earlier and replied with a soft “Good night.”

#

Dean hadn't laughed so hard in what seemed ages. He sat beside Castiel at a bar near the college. A couple college kids were also at there, but since it was a Wednesday evening, none of them looked to be there to get drunk. They seemed more interested in drinking away the pressure of deadlines and term papers. Dean didn’t blame them. He’d done his fair share of procrastination and drinking away the edge of stress during his college years.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Dean said, trying to stop laughing for a second, so he could speak. “So Gabriel actually replaced the filling in all the oreos with mayonnaise? All three boxes?”

Castiel nodded. “Every single one.” He chuckled to himself. “Oh, God, Lucifer lost it. I swear he was going to kill Gabe if Anna and Michael hadn’t stepped in. Of course, they were both on the floor in tears after Lucifer took that first bite. I admit I was on the floor with them. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in my entire life.”

Dean chuckled and sipped what was probably a beer too many, but he didn’t care. Castiel was funny and interesting, and even if he was a little awkward, it just made him all the more adorable. “I don’t think I’ve laughed like this in a long time...years,” Dean admitted. He placed his fingertips to his chin and then moved his hand outward in the sign for “thank you.” Castiel responded by holding his hand out, palm up, and bringing it toward his chest in the sign for “you’re welcome.”

“Have you been practicing signs with your brother?” Castiel asked.

“A little.” Dean felt his cheeks heat in embarrassment. “He says I’m very stiff, and it’s easier for me to understand what he signs than for me to sign what I mean.”

Castiel nodded. “That’s all right. You’re still learning. It’s only been a month, after all.”

“How long did it take you to master ASL?”

“Hmm...about three years, but that’s fast for most people. I have a knack for languages, and my own impairment drove me to attain fluency as quickly as possible. As I understand it, it takes most people five or six years to become fluent.”

Dean took a sip of his beer. “Sammy learned ASL in about five years—‘preparing for the inevitable,’ he said. I was sort of in denial then. There was just always more surgeries, more hearing aids. I figured it would turn out all right. I regret not learning ASL with him when I had the chance.”

Castiel squeezed Dean’s shoulder. “You’re learning now. That’s more than a lot of people would do.”

Dean glanced at the hand on his shoulder before asking, “Any of your siblings know ASL?”

“Just Anna and Gabe. Mike and Luc say they don’t need to because I can still communicate well enough. I don’t think they realize I only have a year or two left before I can’t hear at all. It’ll be harder for me to talk then because I won’t be able to hear myself.”

Dean frowned. “I’m sorry.”

Castiel shrugged. “It’s nothing to be sorry about. This is how I am. That’s okay.”

Dean glanced again at the hand Castiel had left on his shoulder. “You’re amazing, you know that?”

A bright red colored Castiel’s cheeks that was most definitely not from the alcohol. “Oh...thank you.”

Dean placed a hand over Castiel’s. “You know, I don’t think I’m good to drive tonight. Should I call a cab?”

Castiel swallowed. “Well...my place is within walking distance...if you want to, uh, crash there.”

“That sounds great.” Dean finished the last swallow of his beer and pulled his wallet out. “What do you say we get out of here, then?”

Castiel nodded and rifled through his pockets. They laid their money on the counter, took their coats off the back of their chairs, and walked out.

#

Dean woke to the sight of Castiel’s sleeping face. The bed he lay in was not his own, and he had trouble remembering the last time that had happened. Castiel’s hair was even more wild than usual. Dean found himself running a hand through the brown waves before he could think about it. Castiel opened his eyes slowly, the blue of his irises seemingly brighter in the morning light filtering through the window to Dean’s back.

“Do you have to go?” Castiel asked, voice thick with sleep.

“Unfortunately. I have work.”

Castiel’s eyes focused on Dean’s lips while he spoke. He’d taken out his hearing aid before falling asleep, which left him virtually deaf. “Will I see you at class tonight?” he asked.

Dean held up a fist and made a nodding movement with it, making Castiel smile.

“Top of the class,” Castiel said.

Dean leaned forward until their lips connected. The kiss was softer than any they’d shared in the night, and Dean hoped it conveyed that he was more invested in Castiel than a simple one night stand. When he pulled away, it was only so Castiel could see him say, “What are you doing Friday night?”

“With any luck, you.”

Dean grinned at that. “I was thinking of dinner, but that works as well.”

Castiel chuckled. “Dinner sounds great.”

Dean kissed Castiel again, and while he’d intended to be brief, Castiel pressed closer. Before Dean knew it, he was on his back with a knee between his thighs and Castiel’s tongue in his mouth. His body flooded with the same heat he’d felt the night before, and he arched into Castiel, moan escaping his throat. Upon feeling the sound’s vibrations, Castiel smiled against his lips with a chuckle.

Dean figured he could take a sick day.


End file.
